From what I've read, the Xonar is a far better card in terms of sound quality. The Auzentech might have high reviews in the realm of gaming because of it's Creative heritage, but that's not the be-all and end-all. I'd have a Xonar in my system now to replace my XtremeGamer if it fit amongst my other expansion cards...

I own the xonar, it's very nice. I still don't understand why Asus felt the need to supply extra power via the floppy adapter.

On the PCIe version, it was necessary. The PCIe x1 slot simply can't deliver the power needed by the onboard amplifiers.

From what I've read, the Xonar is a far better card in terms of sound quality. The Auzentech might have high reviews in the realm of gaming because of it's Creative heritage, but that's not the be-all and end-all. I'd have a Xonar in my system now to replace my XtremeGamer if it fit amongst my other expansion cards...

it also has good reviews for music and movies..

Auzen is about to release a new card by the way. I am tempted to give the Xonar back to the store I bought it in and wait...

yep, their low-profile card that people have been wanting for a while now. and it's PCI-E finally.

it looks like it will be great for HTPC and for digital only connections, i wonder how the analog will be on it tho..

i am waiting for reviews to come out on it.

I think since I still use onboard Realtek crap I will jsut buy it when it comes out

I think since I still use onboard Realtek crap

Onboard Realtek is quite nice actually. 7.1 + 2 channel, 192KHz/24 bit, spdif and toslink outs. Better connections than a X-Fi, and better drivers too. Supports all the codecs you could ask for. The nicer ones even support features like Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect.

The only other things fancy cards do is:

• somewhat better analog outs if you still use those (even then, depends on the card -- all my speakers have spdif and/or toslink inputs)
  
• EAX (only matters if you're a PC gamer -- not my case)
  
• advanced stuff like low latency multitrack ASIO and such (I'm no musician either)
  

I'll take onboard Realtek over anything Creative-made anytime.

I hear what I hear - sorry!

SPDIF I don't care about.

When I plug in a microphone, major distirtion comes out of the speakers. When the room is quiet, I can hear some kind of buz when moving the mouse. That is not a quality I seek.

Keep in mind the Auzentech is only based on the Creative chip, which is - from what I was told - not bad at all. The thing about Creative card is bad quality of everything else

yep, their low-profile card that people have been wanting for a while now. and it's PCI-E finally.

it looks like it will be great for HTPC and for digital only connections, i wonder how the analog will be on it tho..

i am waiting for reviews to come out on it.

PCIe is nice, but if it requires a floppy connector like the DX or the D2X do I'll gladly pick the PCI variant over PCIe.

yep, their low-profile card that people have been wanting for a while now. and it's PCI-E finally.

it looks like it will be great for HTPC and for digital only connections, i wonder how the analog will be on it tho..

i am waiting for reviews to come out on it.

PCIe is nice, but if it requires a floppy connector like the DX or the D2X do I'll gladly pick the PCI variant over PCIe.

What is the big deal?

What is the big deal?

My PSU is modular, and I like to keep a minimum of cables in use if possible. Floppy connectors are only attached to the molex cables on my PSU. It would be the only device that uses that cable, and routing cables to a half-length card across the motherboard is just a pain in the rear.

the Xonar is a great card

read on any audiophile forum and they'll rant about it, it emulates EAX5 really well, with no noticeable difference from the xfi chips

What is the big deal?

My PSU is modular, and I like to keep a minimum of cables in use if possible. Floppy connectors are only attached to the molex cables on my PSU. It would be the only device that uses that cable, and routing cables to a half-length card across the motherboard is just a pain in the rear.

So is mine!

But there is a reduction included in the box

I hear what I hear - sorry!

SPDIF I don't care about.

When I plug in a microphone, major distirtion comes out of the speakers. When the room is quiet, I can hear some kind of buz when moving the mouse. That is not a quality I seek.

Keep in mind the Auzentech is only based on the Creative chip, which is - from what I was told - not bad at all. The thing about Creative card is bad quality of everything else

If you get major distortion from the speakers when plugging in a mic it's because the mic is turned up way too loud. if you hear buzz when moving the mouse, you might want to make sure that the cable for the mouse is not running parallel to the audio cable. it's called EMI, and it comes from the 60hz hum caused by electricity flowing parallel to signal. electricity should never run parallel, and they should only cross at 90 degree angles, and at a bare minimum as well.

it'll happen on thousand dollar RME Hammerfall cards....it's nothing special on a creative.